assumptions

A newly elected pontiff (Michel Piccoli, right) reluctant to assume his responsibilities is counseled by an eminent atheist psychiatrist (Nanni Moretti, left) in the new Italian comedy-drama, "We Have a Pope." Photo courtesy of Image.net, IFC Films.

Many of us probably like to think we have a pretty good handle on our spiritual beliefs. But do we? What if we were faced with circumstances that caused us to question the nature of those supposedly rock-solid truths? Such is the challenge faced by the protagonist in the new Italian comedy-drama, “We Have a Pope.”

Upon the passing of the Pope, the College of Cardinals convenes a Vatican conclave to select the new worldwide leader of the Roman Catholic Church. It’s a solemn occasion (the Holy Father has just died, after all), but it’s also one that’s seemingly full of hope and promise with the selection of a new shepherd at hand. In light of that, outside observers might be tempted to think that it’s an auspicious occasion, especially for those candidates who are considered leading contenders to ascend to the papacy. But, in this instance, when viewers are let in on the internal musings of the cardinals, one finds them full of dread, praying fervently not to be selected by their peers. As a group of mostly stodgy old men, they’re generally content with the status they’ve attained and have little interest in being saddled with the formidable responsibilities of managing one of the globe’s largest religious institutions during the waning years of their lives.

The College of Cardinals meets to select a new Holy Father in director Nanni Moretti's "We Have a Pope." Photo courtesy of Image.net, IFC Films.

Through several rounds of voting, no candidate receives a mandate. Speculation abounds in the press and in the assembled crowds in St. Peter’s Square about what’s transpiring, but no news is forthcoming from this secret proceeding. According to protocol, the cardinals must conduct their work in strict privacy and remain sequestered until a new Pope is selected and introduced to the public. Finally, after several attempts at making a selection, the cardinals choose a successor, and he’s not one of the favorites. A reserved, little-known member of the College, Cardinal Melville (Michel Piccoli), is chosen as the new leader of the Church, an unexpected development that takes everyone – including the soft-spoken cardinal – by surprise.

With the new Pope selected, the cardinals prepare to introduce him to the public. But just before the new pontiff is about to make his first appearance on the balcony above St. Peter’s Square, he flees in panic, claiming he cannot carry out his new responsibilities. He aimlessly wanders about the Vatican, desperately trying to figure out what to do. Meanwhile, the Vatican’s handlers, especially its chief spokesperson (Jerzy Stuhr), frantically go into damage control mode to save face, saying that the Pope has secluded himself in his apartment to pray for guidance. It’s an unprecedented situation for an organization that’s accustomed to everything proceeding with clockwork precision.

To help the new Pope cope with his circumstances, the Vatican calls upon an eminent psychiatrist (Nanni Moretti) to offer counsel. He’s of little help, though, because he’s not allowed to conduct his therapy sessions in private, and the pontiff is reluctant to open up about himself when encircled by a band of inquisitive cardinals hanging on his every word. It also doesn’t help that the counselor is an atheist, his background not having been vetted by the Pope’s handlers before being called upon to assist the Holy Father. What’s more, even though the counseling sessions don’t work out, the good doctor is told that, due to the confidential nature of his assignment, he must remain sequestered inside the Vatican with all of the cardinals until the new Pope has been officially introduced to the world. Anxiety thus begins to set in for more than just the new pontiff and his staff.

With the crisis dragging on for days, the Pope’s handlers decide to try a more radical strategy. They plan to smuggle the pontiff out of the Vatican to see another psychiatrist (Margherita Buy) – who just happens to be the estranged wife of the counselor who tried treating him initially – hoping that getting him away from everything will put him more at ease, allowing him to engage in meaningful therapy sessions. The staff tells no one of the plan, informing the press and the increasingly anxious cardinals that the Pope remains secluded in his apartment, continuing to pray for guidance.

Everything initially seems to go according to plan – that is, until the Pope decides to flee his handlers, escaping into the streets of Rome. He wanders about in anonymity, attempting to sort out his thoughts. Along the way he meets with an assortment of people who help him unravel his anxiety. He seems especially taken with a troupe of actors, who ultimately help him uncover the source of his trepidation. But, even with this question answered, he must still decide whether he wants to go back to the Vatican to assume the mantel that awaits him there, raising the all-important question, will he do it?

Challenging assumptions related to our spiritual beliefs can be daunting, to be sure. We often consider such truths as unquestionable givens. Yet there are times when we think we know what we want when, in fact, we don’t. And, when circumstances arise that put such issues to the test, we’re often ill-equipped to handle them. When matters of head and heart, intellect and intuition, thought and feeling, don’t match up in spiritual matters, the result is often a crisis of faith.

Under these circumstances, at the very least, we may feel disoriented, and, at worst, we can experience a full-fledged meltdown. In such instances, fear is nearly always the first reaction, but once that initial fright passes, we’re still left with the conundrum of what to do. In many cases, we usually gravitate to one of two options: (1) we stay locked in place, keeping our beliefs at bay, desperately trying to maintain appearances and denying our true selves, or (2) we move forward and evolve, allowing our inner feelings to come into alignment with our outer reality, a truly liberating experience if ever there were one. All of the principals in this film must come to grips with this choice, but the most important concern for each of them is, what will they do?

The new Pope clearly feels unprepared for his new calling, and he’s aware of the inherent disconnect between how he feels on the inside and the time-honored, highly institutionalized mission he’s expected to carry out. He’s unable to reconcile the discrepancy and doesn’t know what to do about it. His wandering through the streets of Rome aptly reflects his internal soul-searching and the pursuit of an answer that ever seems to elude him.

Of course, the Pope isn’t the only one who’s conflicted. The other cardinals, for example, are clearly torn at the film’s outset when they desperately pray to God not to be selected to serve the institution that they supposedly so ardently represent. And the psychiatrist has his own quandary, too, as becomes apparent when he, as an avowed atheist, quotes from the Bible to justify his contentions to his religious detractors.

The Pope’s breakthrough comes when he encounters the acting troupe. At one point he confesses that he had wanted to be an actor when he was younger but that he failed at it because he wasn’t talented enough. So is it any wonder, then, that he feels fundamentally incapable of taking on the responsibility of leading an institution so concerned with keeping up proper appearances? He knows he can’t do that, because he’s simply not that good an actor.

Ascending the papacy is a lonely and stress-filled journey for the former Cardinal Melville (Michel Piccoli) in "We Have a Pope." Photo courtesy of Image.net, IFC Films.

And keeping up appearances is indeed important to the Church, something that impacts not only the papacy but also everyone and everything that the institution touches. In fact, the Vatican handlers are so desperate to convey the impression that everything is under control that they enlist one of the Swiss guards (Gianluca Gobbi) to take up residence in the Pope’s apartment to periodically give onlookers a vague, veiled impression that the pontiff is indeed secluded inside. (It’s enough to make viewers – and the faithful – wonder what other kinds of appearances the Church might be trying to keep up as well.)

The cardinals come to question their circumstances, too, thanks to the assistance of their involuntarily sequestered companion, the psychiatrist, who unwittingly assumes the role of an impromptu activities director. To alleviate the frustration of enforced seclusion, the good doctor plays cards with his religious cohorts and even organizes an ecclesiastical volleyball tournament. The once-rigid cardinals, who probably never would have thought of engaging in such uninhibited secular activities, relish their newfound freedom, experiencing more genuine fun than they likely have in years. With the shackles of their self-imposed limitations removed, they allow their joy of living to shine through, something that emerges in stark contrast to the highly regimented lives that they’ve been living for ages.

Of course, liberation need not always be quite so dramatic or deliberate in nature. Sometimes simple acts, like walking away from an intractable situation, may be the most effective response to one’s circumstances. It may also have the greatest impact, too, provided its significance is recognized for what it truly is.

“We Have a Pope” is a surprisingly substantive film on many levels. Its treatment of the subject matter is deftly handled, subtly yet effectively depicting the parallels between the Pope’s personal struggles and those of an institution increasingly struggling with its own identity, and it does so without ever becoming crass or taking cheap shots. It also features a lot of good humor, providing an effective counterbalance to the picture’s more dramatic material. Admittedly, some of the jokes go on a little too long, but most are genuinely inspired. The writing and acting are crisp, too, even if the pacing is a bit uneven at times, particularly in the film’s first 30 minutes. Overall, however, this is a very entertaining, thought-provoking film that’s well worth your time.

Taking time to take stock of our core beliefs (especially those of a spiritual nature) can be a worthwhile practice, particularly if we’ve allowed outmoded, inflexible assumptions to take hold over us. Even if we decide not to change anything after such an exercise, at least it affords us the opportunity to reaffirm what we do believe and to boost the joy of living that such beliefs give rise to.

The beliefs I hold underlie everything I do and say and how I perceive the world around us. My beliefs form a complex web of interconnected concepts that form my model of the world, and is one of the things that makes me unique. I have “concepts about the world and a concept is merely a belief and a belief is merely an opinion I have a particular loyalty to.*

I have beliefs about everything. I have beliefs about who I am, my place in the world, my job, about my children, the elderly, or politicians. When I meet someone for the first time, my beliefs fill in a lot of gaps in my knowledge about them. My beliefs create assumptions based on what I know or assume about people who resemble them. This is where it gets tricky. If I don’t want to be imprisoned by my beliefs, it’s critical to be aware of the difference between what I really know about someone and what I’m assuming about them.

So what is the point of having beliefs? They give us a way of understanding the world (our model of the world, remember). Some of them are based on hard evidence, our experiences in the world and many of them are received from our parents, our culture and our peers. Beliefs do a number of other jobs. Some are designed to keep us safe, others to make us comfortable and even some to keep us from worrying too much.

Even my most positive and noble beliefs can imprison me. The way elephants are trained illustrates that having beliefs that imprison us isn’t peculiarly a human trait. When an elephant is being broken in, the trainers take a huge chain and attach it to the elephant’s leg. They attach the other end to a spike that’s driven deep into the ground. No matter how much the elephant strains against the chain, it learns that resistance is futile.

As the elephant becomes more docile, the chain is replaced with smaller and smaller chains. The elephant comes to believe there is no point in trying to escape and never tries again. You might laugh at the elephant, and you might even think that it’s being irrational to imprison itself. This is exactly how beliefs work in humans. Everyone I’ve ever met, including you, has irrational beliefs. We are particularly good at building prisons for ourselves.

In 1955, Dr. Albert Ellis identified 12 common irrational beliefs. Most of us hold some or all of these beliefs. For example: I think I am most happy when I am inert or inactive when I am in fact happiest when I am engaged. Elephants are in very good company.

I notice that my world view is also responsible for how I get stuck. When my world-view doesn’t match reality, I stop dead in my tracks. If I stop long enough and don’t change my beliefs to align with reality, I’ll get stuck. For instance if my creative abilities are called into question, challenging many beliefs I have about myself, I might slip into inaction and self doubt. Rather than questioning the person who challenged me, I might undermine my own creativity. If I’m not aware of my beliefs, it’s difficult to change them.

Pain is what happens when your model of the world doesn’t match reality. Imagine you are in love with someone and have all kinds of belief about loyalty, love, and about that person in particular. What happens if they leave you? Pain! Where do you start to rearrange your beliefs about yourself and your concepts? These are pretty fundamental beliefs and it’s painful when you realize that they might be wrong. Suffering is what happens when you are in pain, but feel powerless to change anything.

In both cases you have a set of beliefs about how the world works. What would you do if you realized the stake binding you to your world-view became untethered? I think most of us would undergo a bit of a crisis and I’m sure it would be no different for the elephant.

It’s my belief that humans are creatures that have beliefs and always will have them but they aren’t set in stone. So how can you make the most of your beliefs, make them work for you, and not be limited by them? Rick Carson,* the author of Taming Your Gremlin has a paraphrase of the Zen Theory of Change that works for me. His version goes,
I free myself not by trying to free myself, but by simply noticing how I am imprisoning myself in the very moment I am imprisoning myself.

In other words, simply notice my beliefs and how you construct little worlds with them that often imprison you.

Consider whether your beliefs guide you toward problems or toward new solutions? Do your beliefs focus on your powerlessness or on your power of choice? If you want to feel directed, you want to choose your beliefs carefully. When you focus on solutions, your ability to make choices and the things that will take you forward, you will not only be happier but more able to help others. In order to take control of your beliefs, you must be aware of them when they pop up and be open to making new choices for yourself.

An elephant never forgets, but humans have the capacity to consider choices they are making and be aware of the consequences. By simply noticing my beliefs, I can begin to make small adjustments to my model of the world that might fit with the reality I encounter.

• I owe Rick Carson a debt of gratitude for imagining this line in his Taming Your Gremlin book.

Are your beliefs holding you back? was last modified: April 10th, 2011 by Bradley

“The harder you fight to hold on to specific assumptions, the more likely there’s gold in letting go of them.”
— John Seely Brown

It is so easy to assume things. These seemingly innocent, simple thoughts can actually hold you back so much. We can assume that we know what somebody is thinking or feeling, or what their intentions are, and really they are all simply based on our own feelings (fears usually) or observations. And they may not be all that accurate in the end.

I know I feel very frustrated when people assume things about me. One big challenge for my friends or family and myself is to not assume we know exactly what the other person is thinking or feeling. We usually do know each other very well, but we are still individuals. I have assumed I knew what the other person was feeling during a discussion, for example, only to be completely wrong because I was basing it all on my fears or beliefs, not on reality.

Maybe it’s because we want things to fit neatly into the tidy place that we have created in our minds that we tend to fall into these assumptions. But people and situations are not always like puzzle pieces that click into place to reveal the true picture. Sometimes it is just easier and better for all concerned to ask questions like “How do you feel about this?” or “What is the real situation we are facing?” You may be surprised how far off we can be in our assumptions. And when we let them go, that’s usually when we find the gold… such as peace, love, and happiness, AND truth.

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Shayne Traviss

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However sometime's growth involves digging up the dirt and planting anew...
And after over 20 years of marketing, promoting and producing others Shayne Traviss decided to open a new chapter in his life.
If you long to go higher, live a life 'all in' join him as he dives in deep sharing his life experiences, travels and inspirations for living a VividLife.